Spinal surgeons often treat spinal disorders with spinal fusion augmented with elongated spinal rods connected to the spine with implants such as pedicle screws or bone hooks. Such “rod assemblies” generally comprise one or two spinal rods and a plurality of screws inserted through the pedicles and into their respective vertebral bodies or hooks connected adjacent thereto. The implants are provided with U-shaped heads that can be capped to couple the elongate rod to the implants. During the surgical procedure to couple the rod to the implants, it is often necessary to use an instrument to push or “reduce” the rod onto the implants heads. An instrument and method of use thereof to reduce a rod into an implant is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,692 Burel et al. commonly assigned. It is desirable to provide an alternative to the instrument described in Burel et al. and to provide such an instrument that offers the surgeon a mechanical advantage in the reduction procedure.